Attorney General Pam Bondi faced a high-stakes and contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on October 7, 2025, marking her first major appearance before lawmakers since taking office. The nearly five-hour session, which began shortly after 9:00 AM and wrapped just before 2:00 PM EST, was a dramatic showcase of the deepening partisan divide over the direction and independence of the U.S. Department of Justice under her leadership.
The hearing came at a particularly fraught moment in Washington. The federal government was in its seventh day of a shutdown, with both parties blaming each other for the impasse. Meanwhile, Bondi was under intense scrutiny for her role in the prosecution of President Donald Trump’s political rivals and the handling of sensitive investigative files related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
According to UPI, Bondi’s appearance before the Senate panel followed her decision—at President Trump’s direction—to seek and secure an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Comey was indicted on one count each of lying to Congress and obstructing justice, stemming from his 2020 testimony before the very same committee. The indictment came after U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert had refused to pursue charges due to a lack of evidence, only to resign under pressure from the Trump administration. Lindsey Halligan, who replaced Siebert, promptly convened a grand jury against Comey.
Democrats have accused Bondi of weaponizing the Justice Department, breaking with the longstanding tradition of keeping the agency independent from political goals. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the ranking Democrat on the committee, did not mince words: “Our nation's top law enforcement agency has become a shield for the President and his political allies when they engage in misconduct. The Attorney General has systematically weaponized our nation’s leading law enforcement agency to protect President Trump and his allies and attack his opponents and sadly, the American people. This is your legacy, Attorney General Bondi. In eight short months, you have fundamentally transformed the Justice Department and left an enormous stain in American history. It will take decades to recover.”
Bondi, for her part, came prepared for a grilling. She arrived in an all-black ensemble, her blonde hair pulled back, accessorized with a long American flag pendant and a Starbucks coffee cup. In her opening statement, Bondi turned the tables, accusing the Biden administration of having previously politicized the Department. “They were playing politics with law enforcement powers and will go down as a historic betrayal of public trust. We will work to earn that back every single day,” she said. “My attorneys have done incredible work advancing President Trump’s agenda and protecting the executive branch from judicial overreach.”
The hearing was, by all accounts, combative. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, pressed Bondi about hundreds of “suspicious activity reports” related to Epstein’s finances and brought up public reporting that Epstein had shown people photos of President Trump with half-naked young women. “Some people would deduce from the fact that they are called suspicious activity reports, that there might be suspicious activity, and yet you seem to have looked at zero of those suspicious activity reports involving Jeffrey Epstein accounts,” Whitehouse said. He further asked, “Do you know if the FBI found those photographs in their search of Jeffrey Epstein's safe or premises or otherwise? Have you seen any such thing?”
Bondi fired back, “You know, Senator Whitehouse? You sit here and make salacious remarks, once again, trying to slander President Trump, left and right, when you're the one who was taking money from one of Epstein's closest confidants—I believe, I could be wrong, correct me—Reid Hoffman, who was with Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions... Yet you’re grilling me on President Trump and some photograph with Epstein?”
Throughout the hearing, Bondi repeatedly refused to discuss personnel decisions, including the forced resignation of Erik Siebert, and skirted questions about her conversations with President Trump regarding the deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities. “I’m not going to discuss personnel decisions,” she said when pressed by Senator Adam Schiff and others. When Senator Dick Durbin asked her about the legal rationale for deploying troops, Bondi retorted, “They're out there working to protect you. I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.”
Republican senators, meanwhile, rallied behind Bondi. Senator Chuck Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, defended the Comey indictment, stating, “If the facts and the evidence support the finding that Comey lied to Congress and obstructed our work, he ought to be held accountable.” Senator Lindsey Graham echoed concerns about Comey’s handling of exculpatory evidence during the Russia investigation, questioning why no case had previously been brought against him.
The hearing also delved into the mass firings and resignations that have swept through the Justice Department under Bondi’s tenure. NPR reported that the Public Integrity Section is now nearly empty, and over 70% of lawyers in the Civil Rights Division have left. Nearly 300 former DOJ employees sent a letter to Congress on October 6, calling for vigorous oversight and alleging “appalling” treatment of staff. “Demonizing, firing, demoting, involuntarily transferring, and directing employees to violate their ethical duties has already caused an exodus of over 5,000 of us—draining the Department of priceless institutional knowledge and expertise, and impairing its historical success in recruiting top talent. We may feel the effects of this for generations,” the letter warned.
Bondi was also pressed about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for more transparency after the FBI declined to release additional information. Senator John Neely Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, warned at a previous oversight hearing, “This issue is not going away. You’re going to have to do more to satisfy the American people.” Bondi, for her part, accused Democrats of hypocrisy, questioning why Senator Durbin had blocked the release of Epstein’s flight logs. Durbin denied the claim, saying, “My Republican colleagues never properly submitted the request in writing.”
The session was punctuated by fiery exchanges, accusations, and evasions. Bondi’s supporters praised her performance. According to CNN, a White House official said, “She’s doing great. Not only is the AG debunking every single bogus Democrat talking point, but she’s highlighting the Democrats’ own hypocrisy, and they have no response.”
As the hearing concluded, it was clear that the questions surrounding the Justice Department’s independence, the prosecution of political rivals, and the handling of sensitive investigations are far from settled. The partisan battle lines have only hardened, leaving the American public to wonder what comes next for the rule of law in the United States.
